Out of the Frying Pan
by Draco-Hermy
Summary: Sequel of Trouble, but can work as a stand-alone. From the December of 2005 onward, Hermione Granger's life changes forever. It's the Hogwarts reunion party on New Years Eve, and something happens she'll regret forever. What she doesn't know is she's not the only one that made a huge mistake that month.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I assure you, I wasn't planning on doing a sequel for Trouble. Ever. But then I entered the Completely AU/AR Competition by AnnaRavenheart, got the best plot ever, and I knew it was a sequel. I was sorely disappointed to find out that I only got three reviews on Trouble. I'd really love to get more than that for this fic.**

**Hermione's POV**

**December 2005**

On the last day of December, New Years Eve, Ron and I were at the annual Hogwarts Alumnae Ball. We went every year. So did everyone else. After a year of worries and complaints, we'd all get to see our old friends again. And our enemies.

Ron had wandered off, just like he did every year, to go have a laugh with Harry. Ginny was talking animatedly with Luna, who had just broken off her relationship with Neville for an explorer named Ralph Scamander.

I didn't know who to talk to, what to do. Then, Draco Malfoy stumbled into my path, clearly drunk out of his mind. He almost fell over, but I caught him. He looked at me like he was remembering those times at school when we were together behind Ron's back. It wasn't exactly what I wanted to be thinking about at my Hogwarts reunion.

I looked around for Astoria, wondering if she knew her husband was this drunk. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi," Draco said.

"Er, hi," I said. "You should sit down." I brought him to the back of the room so he didn't have to be embarrassed about being drunk, though he was too far gone to even notice if people were laughing at him.

"You look beautiful," he said. My cheeks burned. _He's just saying that because he's drunk. He's drunk. He doesn't mean it._ I had to keep repeating that thought, or I might fall under Draco's spell again. I swore to Ron it would never happen again.

"That's nice," I said stiffly, and got up to walk away. I would go sit with Ron or catch up with Ginny or something. Just as I was about to be out of range, Draco stood up, grabbed my arm, and spun me around. "Draco!" I said. "What are you doing?" _He's drunk, he's drunk..._ He kissed me.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Second installment! Don't forget to R&R, thanks!**

**September 3rd, 2006**

It was a week after Rose was born. A week, and we were home, Ron and I, smiling down at our daughter. _Our_ daughter. Not mine and Draco's. Mine and Ron's. According to the world.

Just then, there was a knock on our door. Ron got up to check and see who it was, and came back looking confused, followed by none other than Astoria Malfoy. She was pale, and stopped in her tracks when she saw Rose.

"Can I talk to Hermione for a moment, Ron?" she asked, and Ron went upstairs, presumably to read the latest _Quidditch Monthly_ that had arrived that day. "Let's go outside. You can bring the baby if you'd like."

So I did, completely confused. I wrapped Rose in a blanket and carried her outside. Astoria and I sat down. I remembered that she'd just had her own baby a month before.

"What's this about?" I asked her. Did she know? Could she have possibly found out?

"I need to tell you something. But first, you need to swear that this will stay between us as long as it needs to," she said.

"Okay."

She took a deep breath. "Back in December, on the twelfth, remember that party Daphne hosted?"

I nodded. I hadn't been able to go because I was sick, but Ron went without me. I was fine with it because I wanted to be alone.

"Well... Draco was gone, Ron was there, we were drunk. A few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant."

"Wait-what?" I couldn't process this. Ron had cheated on me? With _Astoria?_ Just a few weeks before I cheated on _him_ with _Draco?_

"I had a baby last month. His name is Scorpius, and by some miracle, he doesn't look like Ron. He looks like me. Blonde hair, blue eyes. He also looks like Draco."

"So... so you're telling me that my husband cheated on you? And you had a kid?" I asked.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. I should just... I'll leave." She got up.

"No! No, please stay." I probably had gone very pale. It seemed like the world had started to move in slow motion. This _could not_ be happening.

"You're not mad?"

"Oh, no, I'm mad, but I don't have a right to be," I said.

"What are you talking about?"

"This is... totally improbable. Impossible."

"What is it?" Astoria was really intrigued now. It was so wrong. How could this happen to me? To us?

"At the New Years Eve party, there's a reason I avoided you. Draco was drunk and he... The same thing happened. It's insane. It's... terrible. Rose was the result. I can't _believe_ was such an idiot!" I yelled, and then covered my mouth. What if Ron had heard?

Astoria gaped. She looked down at Rose. Noticed her grey eyes, her short nose. Her unnaturally pale skin. The wisps of brown had that had already begun to appear.

"No," she whispered. "I don't believe it."

"You'd better believe it," I said. "Our families are tangled up so much, it's insane. You can't tell Ron! Please, he'll kill me. I swore I'd never go behind his back again, and then it happened. With Draco. At a Hogwarts reunion. How sick is that?"

"I won't tell," she said. "I have no right to. They can never, ever know. Understand? Never."

"You're right," I said. "We'll have to have each other's backs for this. Someone to trust. And of all people..." I laughed maniacally. "Of all the people!"

She'd gotten together with Draco because of my going behind Ron's back with Draco during school. I'd gotten a better relationship with Ron than ever before. And now, we were both going to lose them if we didn't keep our mouths shut. How had this happened?

And why had Ron cheated on me with Astoria? At least Draco made sense. We'd been together before. He'd never gotten over it. Okay, I could live with that. But Ron had just downed too much firewhiskey and hooked up with Astoria! That was _way_ more unacceptable. Not that what I'd done was acceptable in any way. But his fault was even worse!

I moaned. "How did our lives get so awful?"


	3. Chapter 3

**July 31st, 2018**

Harry's birthday party was always fun. Ginny threw a surprise party for him every year, even though he was never surprised. I think she just liked planning everything for him. Harry was a nice enough person to pretend to be surprised every year, which pleased Ginny more than it should, but still.

We were at his party, all of us, including the Malfoys. Harry had tried to be friendly to them, and Astoria was willing to reach out, but Draco wasn't. Astoria was still obviously prejudiced about muggle-borns and so-called "blood traitors", but she probably still felt horrible about the whole predicament with me.

Draco hadn't changed much in the eleven years since his child was born. He still refused to be civil with any of us. Mostly, that meant dragging Astoria into a corner and sitting there until they left while Scorpius played with Rose and the other children.

This year, however, I wasn't going to let that happen. I decided when Rose ran off the train to go and hug us that I was going to tell the world what had happened all those years ago. Astoria didn't know yet.

I pulled her aside, something I hadn't done in years. "We need to talk."

"Yes?" she asked. She was pregnant with another child, this one definitely Draco's.

"We have to tell them."

"Are you mad?" she asked. She patted her swollen belly. "I'm about to have another kid. What if he disowns me?"

"You don't have to tell anyone about what happened with Ron. I'm just going to tell them all about Rose," I said. "I won't even mention your name."

She smiled sadly. "I can't let you do that alone. If you're telling, I am, too." We'd become closer friends over time. Not best friends or even close enough to hang out a lot, but I'd been able to confide in her about all my worries, no matter what, and she'd done the same. It lightened the load considerably.

"Fine, then. But I feel bad about doing it at Harry's party," I said, "and when else would we?"

"We could tell the press," she said doubtfully.

"No, they'd make it into something bigger than it has to be before anyone's ready. It would be wrong to tell the media before we tell the people we're close to," I said.

"I'm not close to anyone here except for you," Astoria said, looking around the room. She was right, but then again, who _was_ she close to besides me?

"Let's do it anyway," I said. Luckily or unluckily, Ginny had hired the Weird Sisters to play, so there was a makeshift stage and a microphone. The two of us rushed up there before I could change my mind. It was now or never.

After eleven years of hiding, I was ready for everyone to know. I found Ron in the crowd, locked eyes with him, and grabbed the microphone from the lead singer. The music stopped at once.

"Hermione!" Ginny hissed. "Bloody hell! What do you think you're doing?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm telling the truth, no matter what happens." Ginny looked confused, but I expected her to.

People were murmuring. "Erm, hello everyone," I started. "Sorry to interrupt a great party, but I have something to say."

"Me, too!" Astoria piped up. I knew what they were thinking. What in the world did Hermione Weasley and Astoria Malfoy have to do with each other? But it didn't matter. They'd know soon enough.

"I've... _We've_ been keeping this secret for far too long," I said. "Eleven and a half years, to be exact."

I saw Ron's face contort into a mix of worry, confusion, and a bit of anger. It broke my heart that I was about to admit to something I'd sworn never to do again.

Astoria said, "The two others that were involved in this... They have no idea. So don't get angry at them. Please."

"It started in December of 2005," I said. I was willing to go first, but Astoria took over. Everyone appeared to be too stunned to speak. Hermione Weasley, the most trustworthy girl, having a secret for so long?

"What happened to me was first. It was December twelfth, the night of my sister's party. A lot of you were there." Ron nodded, then froze, beginning to go a little pale. Maybe he remembered something from that night. "Well, it started normally, like any other party. Draco wasn't there." She looked at her husband with terribly sad eyes.

"And neither was I," I said, "but my husband was." Ron looked shocked. Maybe I'd put too much of an accusatory tone into that sentence.

"Yes," Astoria said. "And I got drunk. And so did Ron, so he wouldn't remember. And we... got together. " She glanced at the corner where the kids were gathered. Yeah, keep it PG.

"What?" Draco asked sharply, and I was immensely grateful to Astoria for making sure he was on the other end of the room. Ron gaped, his ears red. Obviously he remembered nothing.

"Please, don't get mad at him," Astoria said. "He didn't know."

"And then," I pressed, hoping to keep Astoria out of trouble. "And then it was December 31st." I took another deep breath. This was going to be the hardest confession I'd ever made.

**A/N Sorry for the abrupt end! I'm going to update, but this story isn't exactly my priority at the moment.**


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